Today’s Tarot: Just Because You Can

 

The Two of Swords is an interesting card. I’ve seen a wide variety of interpretations for it, all of which ring true at one time or another. The classic interpretation is to be of two minds about something, or to have difficulty choosing between two nearly identical options. Diane Morgan broadens that duality beyond the mundane to include the spirit realm. Here, the two of swords is more about identifying and connecting to subtly different realms of being rather than subtly different physical realm choices. Ted Andrews uses elements of both. He connects the physical and spiritual, but points out the choices we make as we integrate the spiritual into daily living. He puts it in terms of right use of power. 

As I drew the card, I got a strong mental impression of the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient wonder, a statue so large that is believed to have stood with a foot on either side of the entrance to the port at Rhodes in ancient Greece. Today, Brea Fisher spook of “a foot in two worlds” in her ever lovely and wise @quanyingongfu feed on Instagram. The interplay between the physical world and the spiritual world is asking for our attention.

We each live with a foot in both worlds You experience the solid, physical realm all of the time, but also have continuous access to the ethereal realm of thoughts, emotions, imagination and intuition.

The two of swords is reminding us to make wise choices about which foot we use and how. My attention is particularly drawn to the esoteric energy side of this and the old adage “Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.” 

Those who work with energy professionally bear the greatest responsibility in that respect. I don’t feel pushed to say that because I’ve seen anyone being irresponsible. “Psychic” scams have been around forever. Today, I feel pulled to mention this out of deep respect for everyone out here doing it right. 

Today the Two of Swords is a bow of respect for those who act out of compassion. Yes, we advertise and post and tell everyone what we do so those who need us can find us. We ask for fair payment or donation in exchange for our expertise and skilled services, but we do so out of compassion for ourselves and our families. We communicate not out of ego but to build trust. Beware the shifting and shady. The trustworthy write the rules, expectations and boundaries for all to see.

Also a bow of respect to those who speak their truth but have the strength to speak their truth but then let go. Ego is needy in this line of work. A wise person can let others about their life and make all the mistakes they need to find wisdom for themselves.

There are many excellent teachers out there and I am so grateful to have found the words of so many of them: Ted Andrews, Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan, Christopher Penczak, Scott Cunningham, Brea Fisher, Nick Gracenin, Jose Johnson and many more. 

We walk through life with a foot in two worlds. Sometimes physical circumstances carry the greater weight and demands our attention, as it has with the pandemic. But to keep moving forward, to keep living, the spiritual foot must move forward and have its day before the physical realm demands its due again.

My hunch is we are in a brief liminal time when things are shifting. The moment is twilight quiet, the eye of the hurricane. Personal power and inner spirituality must be used rightly. This isn’t the time for bluster and show, not a time for group-think, blind positivism or outward dogma. We’ve survived for the moment, so now is the time to turn quietly inward give our hearts and souls their turn even as we prepare to return our attention to the practical in times to come. 

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Surprise and Balance

 

Pause the video to give yourself a chance to choose a card. You choose the pace. You can take a breath, relax and pick a card at your leasure, or just work from pure impulse and pick the first one that grabs your attention. The daily meditation style reading for each card is below.


 

Left: Four of Pentacles. Keep your eyes open for a pleasant surprise. Sometimes this card is associated with stinginess or is a reminder to mind your budget, but this has a much more playful energy today. Treat yourself a little. Today is a good day to enjoy any little sutprises that may cross your path. Keep an eye out for small treats on level of a favorite movie on tv, a song on the radio, finding a lost earring or something of that magnitude. You don’t have to win the lottery for something to brighten your day.

Center: Ace of Pentacles. The ace is the essence of the suit, in this case the physical realm and the element of earth. Today is about indulging the senses, like playing with putty, watching (or doing) acrylic pour art, light that scented candle. Today is a a good day to beautify your space and enjoy it.

Right: Two of Swords. This card is one of those that seems to have two tracks of meaning. One very classic interpretation has to do with a “this or that” or “of two minds” kind of decision. Of course, the boilerplate advice is to choose the path that offers the most balance over the long run. I tend to lean toward the other line of meaning, both for today and in general. Swords are associated with the element of air and the intellect. Two cards are in general concerned with balance, yes, but in this case it is the balance between thought and action, subtle and blunt, inner world and outer world, the spiritual and the physical. Today it feels strongly pointed toward the balance of our physical and spiritual being. Today is a good day to find the magic in the mundane.

 

12 Second Tarot: 2 of Swords (17 September 19)

Difficult situations require that we look with our heart as much as our with our eyes.

The two of swords is often read as being “of two minds” about something….a choice between two things of such equality that it is almost impossible, or maybe pointless, to decide.

Often, though, there is a little more to it than that.

Diane Morgan gives a unique reading of the card in her book “Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao” which for all the obvious reasons is far and away one of my favorite Tarot book. She reads it as a ‘mystical unity’. Instead of indecision between two things, she saw it as profound, etheric, or sublte connection between two things. That is the energy that is stepping forward today.

Today, the two connected things are nothing less than you and the universe.

Which is just how you can decide between two things and make a difficult choice. See with your heart. Before you can make the compassionate choice, or take the higher road, you have to figure out what that is. The idealistic…or even the ideal choice isn’t always obvious. The two of swords is your permission to follow the energy, follow the spiritual choice even if it isn’t obvious to other people. You may the one seeing with more than your eyes.